Beginner’s Outsourcing Kit

Congratulations on taking that first step into outsourcing. Like you, I was intimidated by all the things I had to set up when I started outsourcing. Unfortunately for me, outsourcing was still in its infancy when I first started doing it years ago. I pretty much had to figure things out. Lucky for you, you can now learn from my experience and the experiences of business that have successfully outsourced their business to the Philippines.

One of the first things you’ll need to do when you start outsourcing is to set up the tools you would need to train and manage your Filipino virtual assistant. We’ve gone through hundreds of websites, applications, and tools over the years. Some we’ve discovered on our own. Most were recommended by friends and colleagues. The one thing all these tools have in common is that we use all of them. These tools have worked consistently over the years. And these are the tools that we highly recommend any outsourcer should have in his toolbox.

Training:

Jing. Jing is a screen capture application created by Techsmith that allows you to record or take snapshots of what’s happening on your computer. You need to download it in order to use but once you have it, it’s free for life. The great thing about this app is it allows me to explain in detail what I want as I’m showing my VA how to do it in my computer. Once you’re done recording, you can save it or send the link to your VA. You can also use it to take screenshots or make short audio clips. You can even save what you made to train your other employees. It’s so easy to use and it doesn’t take a lot of space or processing power. I love it so much I use it at least 20 times a day for just about anything. Even my VAs use it when they send me stuff.

Security Tools:

LastPass. Security is one of the biggest issues in the outsourcing industry. I believe this is why most entrepreneurs are uncomfortable with the idea of sharing their passwords with Filipino workers. For the most part, Filipino employees are honest. But for added peace of mind, you can use LastPass. What I like about LastPass is it allows you to give the different levels of access. This means you can give greater access to employees you can trust and limited access to new hires. It also allows you to organize these logins according to category. You can create a folder for personal sites, sites you use for business, etc.

Operations/Administration:

Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides).  In the Philippines, not everybody has access to registered copies of the Microsoft Office Suite. If you don’t need the advanced features of MS Office Suite for your business, the Google Suite is a pretty good substitute. It’s not as powerful but it is free. And because it is online, it makes it easier to collaborate with them.

Project Management:

Basecamp. We’ve tried a lot of Project Management tools over the years but the best one by far, the tool we keep coming back to is Basecamp. We keep coming back to it because it’s easy to use, reliable, and the features just make sense, not matter what kind of business you have. You can create project templates, customize projects, store documents and send messages to your employees. I have my VAs send their daily reports through Basecamp, making it easy for all of us to stay updated on what we’re working on. Basecamp:

Communications

Skype. I know that there are a lot of apps now that has all the features of Skype. Some might even work better. But none of them have that reputation of professionalism that Skype does. When you tell a Filipino VA that you want to do a Skype interview or meeting, they know it’s serious.

Slack. When you have VAs all over the country, instant, internal communication can be a challenge. For this, we rely on Slack. Yeah, Facebook messenger can do the same thing, but again, it’s not very professional and it tends to be distracting. What I like about Slack is how intuitive it is to use and how easy it is to search through your messaging history. My team uses it to organize themselves and their messages according to tasks.  This makes it easier for them to work as a team.

Monitoring:

TimeProof: Once you’ve hired a virtual assistant, you’d want to know if he or she is really working. For that, we developed TimeProof. It’s a free app that you can use if you have an Onlinejobs.ph account. Timeproof records the time your VA spends working & takes screenshots at random times to monitor if they’re really doing their jobs.